Nimble Jason Giambi gives Yankees a slide show in first inning

No one since Tom Selleck has created as much buzz over a mustache as Jason Giambi has, and the slugger has gotten plenty of attention for his long home runs this season, too. But Saturday, Giambi drew raves for a skill he's not usually noted for - baserunning.

Giambi's terrific second-inning slide, where he hit the dirt wide of home plate and brushed it with his left hand as Boston catcher Jason Varitek futilely tried a sweep tag, gave the Yankees a 1-0 lead in a game in which runs turned out to be as rare as diamonds. Not bad for a guy who earlier in the week had hit his first triple in nearly five years.

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"You've got to be good at something when you're slow," Giambi said.

"That's a big man going around third base," Joe Girardi said. "It's the right decision because of the situation. He got a good jump, did a nice job and had a very good slide. I'm not holding my breath, but I'm just hoping that he beats the throw."

The Yankee offense has been sputtering recently and managed only two runs yesterday, so after Melky Cabrera hit a soft single to right-center with two outs, Giambi, taking off from second base, figured, "I was going to have to score."

J.D. Drew fielded the ball and made a one-hop throw to the plate. Giambi said he got a good jump coming around third and peeked to see if Drew would come up throwing. "I knew it was going to be a close play. I have to go," Giambi said. "Two outs, you've got to go. I'm thinking score. Even if he had hit it hard, I would have to go, put the pressure on them to make the play.

"It helps when you're not a fast baserunner if you can get good jumps off second. There aren't a lot of people around you, so you can."

Coming down the line, Giambi knew he could slide around Varitek. "Most of the time, the catcher is going to determine how you go into the base," Giambi said. "Most of the time, he's going to sit on it. If he had, I would've had to run him over. But he went out there to get the ball, because it wasn't going to give him a good hop."

The meeting of irresistible force and immovable object never came as Giambi took his wide route and slid in safely. It was the only run of the game until the Yankees scored again in the sixth, and they held on for a 2-1 victory.